News

Pine + Ivy, a home decor and lighting design company, is opening a retail store in The Opportunity Central (The OC) - a career, college and community initiative by Forney Independent School District. Pine + Ivy is the latest business to announce its partnership with the district that includes students enrolled in practicums who will learn all the aspects of what it takes to make the businesses successful.

Thousands are accusing power companies, distribution companies, electric grid operators and others of failing to prepare properly for the February 2021 storm, creating a catastrophe.

“Something that is holy is set apart as something special,” says Jennifer, 11. “The Israelites took all their gold earrings and jewelry and things like that and made them into a golden calf. Moses was on Mount Sinai so he couldn’t tell them not to. They worshiped the calf and considered it holy.

I am leaving my husband. Relax. I’ll only be gone for 10 days. My son and his wife are going to Hawaii. Grandma (hello, that is me) will be heading to Houston to take care of the grandkids. While this all sounds routine and mundane on paper, my mind is spiraling out of control with all the things that could go wrong. The Herculean efforts it will require to pull this endeavor off have me waking up during the night in a cold sweat. You see, I may be able to do difficult things, but I really excel at making super simple things very, very hard. There’s a meme out there in the world. How many times have I typed that line? It goes something like this. “Don’t invite me nowhere with complicated parking cuz I’m gonna circle around and go home.” Forgive the grammar. “It do be like that sometimes.” That’s another meme. Still, I am that person. Busy city? I will do a mock drive, on a different day, at the same time. Gotta be somewhere during rush hour on a Monday? I will do a practice run the Monday prior at the same time. Nighttime arrival expectation? You guessed it. I will drive there at night and, probably, also in daylight to memorize all the nuances. I don’t like unfamiliar traffic patterns, unexpectedly narrow parking spaces, surprise oneway streets, or any routes requiring NASCAR-esque sudden maneuvers. I hate crowds. I despise feigning calmness and asking directions when my insides are screaming in terror. Only children unite. I just don’t people well. I have crafted a beautifully simple life bereft of all these situations. But, what’s a grandma to do when the littles need her? It’s time to cowgirl up and get to Houston where I shall drive to unfamiliar schools with mysteriously unknown pick-up lines and strange parking spaces.

“The Run”

Can You Count On Social Security?

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s (TPWD) Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center (TFFC) in Athens is once again partnering with Fishing’s Future and the George H.W. Bush Vamos A Pescar Education Fund to provide convenient fishing education opportunities for families throughout Texas.

Young Catherine stood on the ship’s bow as it sailed into Ellis Island. She was a teenager. Her hair was tied behind her head. She had a slender neck. Young face.

Make a Left

Spring is a time of year when change is in the air. Trees are budding, plants are flowering, and homes laden with dark or heavy fabrics and clutter could use some lightening up.

Though plants might not seem like the first thing individuals think of when they ponder long-term investments, perennials can be just that. The home and garden experts at HGTV note that some perennials can live for a very long time. For example, according to HGTV, the colorful flowering plant peony, despite a blooming season that usually lasts just seven to 10 days, has been known to survive for 70 to 100 years. Hostas are another popular perennial because they require little maintenance, and that extra free time can add up over the course of the hosta’s life, which can exceed 15 years. Long-living perennials are not necessarily unusual, but gardeners should know that many perennials, and particularly those characterized as “short-lived,” tend to live around three years.

I hope that most of you know that I own Flower Basket. And today, you will all learn that my “significant” birthday is in February, less than a week from Valentine’s Day. According to my children, these two facts make it impossible to shop for me (“What are we gonna get a florist the week of Valentine’s Day? Flowers?”). So, they’ve worked very hard to make my birthday gifts meaningful, and every gift they give is that much more special because I know that they gave it so much thought.

The last couple of years have been doozies - for just about all of us. The world has changed before our eyes, in ways we never would have or could have imagined.